{"id":291303,"date":"2025-10-10T06:54:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T06:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/291303\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T06:54:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T06:54:15","slug":"dodgers-defeat-phillies-in-a-wild-walk-off-to-advance-to-the-nlcs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/291303\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers defeat Phillies in a wild walk-off to advance to the NLCS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Andy Pages<\/a> hit a ground ball to the mound.<\/p>\n

Orion Kerkering<\/a> picked it up and threw away the Philadelphia Phillies\u2019 season.<\/p>\n

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th in Game 4 of the National League Division Series<\/a> on Thursday, that\u2019s how the Dodgers secured a walk-off, series-clinching 2-1 win<\/a> that sends them to the NL Championship Series.<\/p>\n

On a throwing error from Kerkering, who initially booted the broken-bat grounder before retrieving the ball in front of the mound.<\/p>\n

On a toss home that went sailing to the backstop, even as catcher J.T. Realmuto<\/a> motioned for Kerkering to get the sure out at first base.<\/p>\n

On a brutal, inexplicable decision from the Phillies\u2019 24-year-old reliever, one that allowed Hyeseong Kim<\/a> to score from third and pandemonium to be unleashed inside Dodger Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstant classic,\u201d Dodgers manager Dave Roberts<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat ranks up there,\u201d third baseman Max Muncy<\/a> added.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

In what started as a pitchers\u2019 duel between two dominant starters, then morphed into a battle of the bullpens that stretched into extra innings, the Dodgers finally prevailed with a rally in the 11th, when they loaded the bases on singles from Tommy Edman<\/a> and Muncy, then a two-out walk from Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With two outs, Pages came to the plate amid a one-for-23 start to his postseason. As Dodger Stadium stirred, he swung through a first-pitch sinker before calling time to gather himself.<\/p>\n

Then, in a blink, the shocking end unfolded.<\/p>\n

On another sinker, Pages cracked his bat on a two-hopper that went skipping to the mound. Kerkering didn\u2019t field it cleanly, with the ball hitting off his foot and bouncing in the direction of the plate. But by the time he grabbed it, Pages was still only halfway up the first baseline \u2014 leaving plenty of time for the scrambling pitcher to throw to first.<\/p>\n

Instead…<\/p>\n

Kerkering panicked and rushed a throw to the plate. The ball sailed on him and missed Realmuto.<\/p>\n

Kim crossed the plate, then went back and stomped on it again just to be certain. Kerkering bent over in immediate regret. The Dodgers poured out of the dugout in equal parts celebration and disbelief.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought he was going to throw it to first,\u201d Pages said in Spanish during an on-field interview moments later. \u201cBut when I saw him throwing home, I figured this was over.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

How the Dodgers defeated the Phillies in the 11th inning in Game 4 of the NLDS.<\/p>\n

Thus, the Dodgers won the series and avoided a decisive fifth game back in Philadelphia. They moved on to their seventh NLCS in the last 10 seasons, where they will await the winner of the league\u2019s other division series between the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be here, knowing that we don\u2019t want to go to Philly and play a Game 5 over there in that atmosphere, it was really important for us to win tonight,\u201d veteran infielder Miguel Rojas said.<\/p>\n

Still, in the Dodgers\u2019 beer-soaked postgame clubhouse celebration, the ending continued to stir a confounding amazement. <\/p>\n

\u201cExtra innings at home, against a really, really, really good team, for it to end on a throwing error by a pitcher back to home plate,\u201d Muncy said, before repeating himself again, \u201cthat definitely ranks up there.\u201d<\/p>\n

In both exultation, but also sheer relief.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Tyler Glasnow<\/a>, who kept the Dodgers in the game early with a scoreless six-inning start, voiced the most common reaction: \u201cIt was kind of crazy. I thought he was gonna go to first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hern\u00e1ndez, who ran hard from first to second thinking the grounder might trickle to the middle of the infield, couldn\u2019t believe what he saw when he turned back to see where the ball went.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kind of peeked, and I didn\u2019t see [Phillies first baseman Bryce] Harper try to catch the ball, and I\u2019m like, \u2018What the\u2026\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cAnd then I looked home, and the ball was in the net, and the place was going crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kim, who had entered as a pinch-runner for Edman earlier in the inning, was so surprised by Kerkering\u2019s decision that he didn\u2019t even slide as he raced home from third.<\/p>\n

\u201cI ran for my life,\u201d he said through an interpreter. \u201cI just ran as hard as I could.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pages, who was mobbed by his teammates in the aftermath of the walk-off, was still just as shocked as he recounted it all again.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I hit the ball, I saw [Kerkering] didn\u2019t grab it, so I kept running,\u201d he said in Spanish. \u201cThen I looked back and I saw that he threw home, and I just thought, \u2018No, he threw the game away.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dodgers <\/p>\n

Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow delivers against the Phillies in the fourth inning Thursday.<\/p>\n

(Robert Gauthier \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

In a somber visiting clubhouse, Kerkering acknowledged that \u201cthe pressure got to me\u201d as he relived the nightmare sequence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just thought there\u2019s a faster throw to JT, little quicker throw than trying to cross-body it,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Amid their celebration, the Dodgers also felt his pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s brutal,\u201d Roberts said, describing Kerkering as a \u201cstud\u201d reliever. \u201cIt\u2019s one of those things that it\u2019s a PFP, a pitcher\u2019s fielding practice. He\u2019s done it a thousand times.\u201d<\/p>\n

All afternoon, the tension had been building at Chavez Ravine.<\/p>\n

Through six innings, both Glasnow (who rode a lively fastball to eight strikeouts before exiting with just 83 pitches because of cramping) and Cristopher S\u00e1nchez (who flummoxed the Dodgers for the second time this series with a flurry of sinkers and changeups) had kept the opposing lineup off the board as shadows stretched across the plate. <\/p>\n

In the seventh, both teams eventually broke through after getting relievers onto the mound.<\/p>\n

The Phillies scored first, when an error by Dodgers reliever Emmet Sheehan \u2014 who missed a throw while covering first on a potential double-play grounder \u2014 led to an RBI double from Nick Castellanos.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers answered right back, when Mookie Betts<\/a> drew a bases-loaded, two-out walk from Phillies closer Jhoan Dur\u00e1n that tied the score.<\/p>\n

At that point, the Dodgers turned to their bullpen savior, getting three perfect innings of relief from rookie right-hander Roki Sasaki<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the great all-time appearances out of the \u2018pen that I can remember,\u201d Roberts said of Sasaki, who has allowed just one baserunner over 5 \u2153 scoreless postseason innings after returning late in the season from a long-term shoulder injury.<\/p>\n

Alex Vesia followed him with an escape in the 11th inning, stranding a runner at second by striking out Harrison Bader in a 10-pitch at-bat.<\/p>\n

\u201cInning to inning, pitch to pitch, I mean, that was a heavyweight battle,\u201d Vesia said. \u201cThey were not going to go down without a fight. But at the same time, you can\u2019t count out the Dodgers. From top to bottom, that was a badass game.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dodgers <\/p>\n

Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki exults after a strikeout in the ninth inning against the Phillies in Game 4 of the NLDS.<\/p>\n

(Robert Gauthier \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

The Dodgers finally ended it in the bottom of the 11th, starting with singles from Edman and Muncy that forced Jes\u00fas Luzardo (the Phillies\u2019 projected Game 5 starter who had come on in relief an inning prior) to give way to Kerkering.<\/p>\n

His first hitter was Hern\u00e1ndez, the longtime Dodgers postseason hero who made his latest contribution by working a full-count walk to load the bases. <\/p>\n

Then, it came down to Pages \u2014 who made just enough contact to force Kerkering\u2019s blunder.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t even the best contact or the best result,\u201d Pages said, \u201cbut with that, I was able to end the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

In infamous fashion for the title-starved Phillies. In a triumphant scene for a Dodgers team vying for a second straight championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would much rather have seen a line drive in the gap or something,\u201d catcher Will Smith joked. \u201cBut, yeah, that\u2019s just pressure. … And they didn\u2019t make the play.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andy Pages hit a ground ball to the mound. Orion Kerkering picked it up and threw away the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":291304,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[107369,79784,11632,84406,1582,276,149325,2442,1910,32077,149326,6539,2961,224,5337,2749,15433,20414,3007,6601],"class_list":{"0":"post-291303","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-11th","9":"tag-basis","10":"tag-batter","11":"tag-bottom","12":"tag-ca","13":"tag-california","14":"tag-cristopher-sanchez","15":"tag-dodgers","16":"tag-game","17":"tag-hyeseong-kim","18":"tag-kerkering","19":"tag-kike-hernandez","20":"tag-la","21":"tag-los-angeles","22":"tag-losangeles","23":"tag-mookie-betts","24":"tag-page","25":"tag-phillies","26":"tag-team","27":"tag-tyler-glasnow"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115348561387716893","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}